There are one hundred and thirty Tanka poems and seventy-five Haiku poems in this
book.
Tanka poems originated in Japan in the seventh century. Traditional Tanka poems are usually
expressions of love, gratitude, self-reflection, as well as describing one of the four seasons.
These poems usually use personification, metaphor and descriptive language to conjure
vivid images in the reader's mind. These adhere to one unbroken sentence that consists of
thirty-one syllables organized into five lines. The first line contains five syllables, the second
line contains seven syllables, the third line contains five syllables, and the fourth and fifth
lines contain seven syllables respectively. Tanka poems usually have no title and no
punctuation is used. Proper nouns are capitalised.
The Tanka poems I have written are based on nature, which is traditional. I have adhered to the traditional structure as well as using no titles or punctuation, except for using contractive and possessive apostrophes where necessary. Proper nouns have been capitalised.
In the second section of this book is a compilation of Haiku poems.
Each poem contains three lines; the first line containing five syllables, the second line
containing seven syllables, and the third line containing five syllables. No titles or
punctuation have been used, except for using contractive and possessive apostrophes where necessary. Proper nouns have been capitalised. Most lines are broken sentences.
All of the Haiku poems I have published in this book are in present tense, adhering to tradition. Like the Tanka poems in this book, these Haiku poems are about nature.
I hope you enjoy reading these poems as much as I enjoyed writing them.